Thanksgiving and prayer
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
The apostle’s prayer of thanksgiving for the Philippians flows naturally from praise to petition. He requests that their love might abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. The Philippians have already given ample evidence of their faith and love. Paul’s prayer here is that they might grow in faith as well as in their desire and ability to bring forth the fruits of faith in words and deeds of love. Since believers are still sinners and will never reach perfection here on earth, there is always room for healthy, steady growth in their Christian lives.
Paul prays that their growth in faith and love might be of the proper kind. Unless it flows from a believing knowledge of God’s love for sinners in Christ, love is only a vague and unstable human emotion. The person who possesses love without insight or discernment may show great enthusiasm. But if he has no perception, no insight or mature spiritual judgment, his enthusiastic love can easily do more harm than good. Paul’s petition here is that the Philippians’ love might not stand still or stagnate but rather abound in connection with spiritual knowledge and insight. He prays that their love might overflow its previous limits, ever maturing into a stronger, wiser, nobler, abler love, and that it might be applied in a truly God-pleasing manner in every area of their lives.
As they grow in a mature Christian love that is coupled with knowledge and depth of insight, believers will be able to make correct decisions. They will be able to properly evaluate the various teachings and philosophies that confront them in their lives and make God-pleasing, moral choices. They will grow in their ability to live the Christianity they profess. When the great day of Christ’s return comes, and the true character of everyone’s heart and life is revealed, their lives will be acknowledged by the Lord as lives filled with fruits of faith, and Christ will be truly honored through them.
This beautiful prayer for the Philippians by the apostle is a model for us as we pray for ourselves and for one another. As we make use of the powerful means of grace, we will experience the joy of growing together in the mature faith that works through insightful love. Then our lives too will glorify our Savior, and we will be found blameless in his sight on the great day of his return.